Why is my TV so complicated to set up?

Posted on 21. Jan, 2012 by in Tech

Here’s how I started a recent Star-Ledger column: “Among your home gadgets and home electronics, what’s the most difficult one to set up and operate?” What’s your pick? Your computer? Your smart phone? Maybe your camera? I doubt it. I don’t know about you, but for me it’s the TV, and I know I’m not [...]

The joy of minimal, easy-to-follow instructions

Posted on 17. Jan, 2012 by in Tech, Writing

The holidays have come and gone, and with them, several weeks of intermittent box opening, toy assembling, and instruction reading. Much fun was had, but I do have a complaint/observation: Why must companies continue to churn out really, really bad instructions? The instructions included with toys, gadgets, and other miscellaneous whatnots are laughably bad. I [...]

Delicious vs. Pinterest: Wondering how I should organize my bookmarks and links

Posted on 23. Dec, 2011 by in Tech

For a number of years, I’ve been using Delicious, the web-based bookmarking service, to store and organize my bookmarks. In fact, it was really more than a bookmarking tool for me. (I saved a lot more than my “favorites.”) I used Delicious to store, as a simple title and URL, anything I came across that [...]

Maybe it’s not too late to send a holiday card

Posted on 16. Dec, 2011 by in Miscellany, Tech

Another year, another set of holiday cards. Actually, judging from our mail, lots of people are scaling back on traditional, USPS holiday greetings. (Uh, I guess it could also be we’re just not that popular.) Certainly the zeitgeist argues against going over-the-top with a lavish, expensive card. But here’s the great thing: With e-cards, you [...]

Yes, I like the Kindle Fire

Posted on 01. Dec, 2011 by in Tech

Here’s what I had to say about the Fire in the column I wrote about it: “I’m impressed by the Fire, and I think millions will buy it and love it. Apple’s finally got big-time competition for tablet computers.”

The column I didn’t write: “What Not to Buy Your Kids for the Holidays”

Posted on 30. Nov, 2011 by in Tech

Sometimes I have an idea for a column, and then I never get around to writing it. Maybe it’s because I’ve lost interest in the topic, or it seems dated — too many others have written about it — or I’ve realized there’s not enough there to make a column. Here’s one I planned to write and chose not to: “What Not to Buy Your Kids for the Holidays.”

1,000+ Microsoft Word docs, plain text, and a file format mess

Posted on 12. Aug, 2011 by in Tech, Writing

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been opening 1,000+ Word documents on my computer, one by one, and converting them from a very, very old Word format (“Microsoft Word 1.x-5.x”) to something I’ll actually be able to read and open on my computer. It’s a laborious process. When Microsoft “upgraded” to Office 2008 for the Mac, the company decided it was necessary to make it super-difficult to work with some older Word file formats.

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